Meltdowns and Mayhem

The Avengers and Spider-Man have helped prevent the Lava Men from causing a nuclear meltdown at the Project PEGASUS facility. Convinced that Captain Marvel is a god, the Lava Men agree to stop hostilities after it is explained that their domain wasn’t attack and are heading back to their domain, much to the relief of Michael O’Brien, the facility’s chief of security. Spider-Man is taken back by how quickly things move with the Avengers, and hopes that he can parlay his assistance into a spot on the team since he could really use the stipend that the team is paid on a weekly basis.[1]

Little do the Avengers know that they are being observed from the security monitors by Moonstone, Blackout, the Rhino and Electro, who are trying to break out of the facility. Both the Rhino and Electro are looking forward to clashing with the Avengers to get revenge against Spider-Man. However, the Rhino doesn’t trust Blackout who is mentally unwell. Hearing this, the paranoid villain begins attacking Rhino with darkforce matter, which he claims is black light. As scientists, both Moonstone and Electro know that’s not accurate but Moonstone uses her psychology skills to convince Blackout to let the Rhino free and follow her plan.

Meanwhile, the Lava Men have departed and with that out of the way, the Wasp scolds Spider-Man for tagging along on a mission to a sensitive government facility without the proper clearance. Spider-Man figures this means he won’t be considered an Avenger, but the Wasp tells Spider-Man that they will make him an Avenger-in-training if he follows the rules from now on. The web-slinger likes this idea and promises to prove his worth to the team. However, Captain America reminds Spider-Man that he has to follow orders and also be open with them about his powers, noting that he didn’t inform them of his spider-sense until they were in the middle of a battle, saying that those sorts of secrets could mean life or death. Hearing this concerns Starfox, who hasn’t told the team about one of his powers and wonders if he should say something or continue keeping it to himself.[2]

After everything is straightened out, O’Brien leads the Avengers back to the main floor through a tube that uses a vortex beam to lift people to other floors without an elevator car. When this device malfunctions, everyone is saved from a fatal fall when Spider-Man quickly webs up a net to catch them all. Escaping the tube to the next floor, Moonstone addresses them from the communications system and tells them that she and her allies have taken control of the reactor and will trigger a meltdown if they don’t allow them to go free. When the Avengers try to breach the reactor area, they discover that Blackout has sealed the door with a massive glob of dark matter. This barrier is then electrified by Electro who is boosting his power with a battery pack.

When her other teammates prove unable to get past this barrier, the Scarlet Witch uses her hex power on it.[3] This causes it to open and sends feedback to Electro, stunning him. As the Avengers pile in to stop the villains, Captain Marvel finds herself trapped in a sphere of Blackout’s dark matter. Try as she might, none of her energy forms can get her free. While Spider-Man keeps the Rhino busy, Captain America and the Scarlet Witch face off against Electro. After Cap uses his shield to cut Electro off from his power pack, Wanda uses her hex power to suck all the oxygen out of his vicinity, causing Electro to pass out. Meanwhile, the She-Hulk manages to knock out the Rhino with a single punch as Captain Marvel finally manages to break free.

Meanwhile, the Wasp tries and fails to stop Moonstone from setting the reactor up for a melt down. With the control panel shattered, the Avengers are forced to stay behind to resolve this crisis while Moonstone and Blackout make their escape. It’s then that Spider-Man reveals that he has a background in science and directs Captain Marvel on how to lower the dampening rods before the reactor can reach critical mass. With Project PEGASUS saved, the Avengers return to the mansion where they report their success back to Raymond Sikorski, their liaison at the National Security Agency.[4] The Wasp takes this opportunity to get security clearance for Spider-Man. However, Siokorski flat out rejects the wall-crawlers admission onto the team because he is a massive security risk. Spider-Man can’t believe the government would allow the Avengers to have an alien like Starfox on their team while he is a person non-grata. Accepting that his membership on the Avengers was never meant to be, Spider-Man declines Cap’s offer to petition the President and takes off, joking about how he is going to write his congressman to complain.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Starfox, Captain Marvel), Spider-Man, Guardsman, Rhino, Electro, Blackout, Moonstone, Raymond Sikorski

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man learned about the Avengers stipend from She-Hulk in Avengers #235 and asked to join last issue.

2. Starfox has the ability to tap and manipulate the pleasure sensor of the brain, causing people to experience pleasure. He will eventually reveal these powers to the team in Avengers #248, and it won’t sit very well with some of the female members of the group.

3. Here, Wanda’s hex power is referred to as a mutant ability. However, she’s not actually a mutant. It’s later revealed in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4 that Wanda was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary when she was a baby. To cover up his work he made it so that future genetic tests would have her register as a mutant.

4. Sikorski states that he has replaced Henry Gyrich, who is current involved in a special assignment. Gyrich was the Avengers handler starting in Avengers #168. This assignment is Project: Wideawake, which is a government taskforce put together to solve the mutant “problem”, see New Mutants #1.

Topical References

• The Avengers stipend is stated as being $1000 a week in this issue. This should be considered topical due to inflation. $1000 in 1983 money is now worth about $2700 in 2021 money.